At the beginning of 2021, my banana farm was hit by an accident, it was swept away by the flood from Citarum River. It was completely disaster, as most of banana plant were destroyed and heavily damaged.
Based on previous experiences and by considering topology and geographical conditions of the farm, floods from Citarum river are annual event. It always occur at the beginning of the year, which is at the peak of the rainy season in Indonesia. I think I should be able to solve this problem, for example by replacing the existing plants with seasonal vegetables or fruit plants.
Seasonal vegetables or fruits means that it has a short lifecycle. Let say for eggplant or corn, it only need 2-3 month from seed to harvest. After discussing with the farmers-who will manage daily activity in the farm-I finally chose watermelons to be planted during this period.
It all started in the mid of May 2021. The farmers took a while to preparing the land, clearing weeds, making planting holes, preparing seedlings and water storage areas and then starting to sow the seeds.
Actually, watermelon is my primary choice because my family and I like to eat watermelon. Another reason is that it is relatively easy to sell and can be sold online so I can utilize my online shop as direct seller.
